As is true for most grand adventures, it is often what you find on the way to your destination that makes for the best stories, rather than the destination itself. At least, on our travels, that’s what we’ve found. And it was definitely true on the day we visited Mussenden Temple, in Northern Ireland.

A cylindrical shaped building, on the edge of a very steep cliff that drops off to the ocean, Musseden Temple was once the library of a great Earl. When we decided to go to Northern Ireland, I found information about it online and thought it would be cool for us to see—after all, libraries and the ocean are two of my favorite things.

On the morning we planned to go, the weather greeted us in typical Ireland fashion; wind and clouds threatening rain. However, used to the Irish weather, we didn’t change our plans. We made the drive from our B&B to the address for Mussenden Temple. Yet when our GPS said, “arriving at destination,” the location was not what we expected.

In front of us, stood an old stone gate and signs for the house associated with the temple—but no temple or ocean. Through the gate there was an information booth in the center of what looked like a garden in the middle of a forest—there was no coastline in sight. Not sure of where to go, we decided to park our car, and see if the man at the booth could help us find the Temple.

 

Wearing a red park ranger jacket, the man stood talking to another couple. So we waited until he was finished. When the couple walked away, he looked over at us and smiled.

“Is this the place to see Mussenden Temple?” I asked, and he started laughing—but not because I was a confused tourist. I had come down with an awful cold, and my voice had become a broken, squeaky mess.

“Someone is sick on her vacation.” He said empathetically, in his Northern Ireland accent. When we laughed and I nodded, he continued: “Yes this is the place to see Mussenden Temple. You are now in the Garden of the Earl Bishop…” He went on to explain where we were on the estate and where we needed to go.

After buying our tickets, he encouraged us to come back through the garden on our way out. He said there was so much there too see, but he didn’t have to convince us. As we walked through the part of the garden that would take us to the cliffs, blue bells lined the path as numerous as blades of grass and their wonderful smell made us want to stay.

So we saw the temple (a story for another day)…

 

 

… and then took the path that would circle us back through the garden.

 

When it dropped us into the garden’s center, the park ranger greeted us:

“How did you like the temple?” He asked.

“It was very cool…” We replied. As we went on to talk about the estate, a small orange butterfly fluttered its way in between us, then on to another part of the garden. The ranger told us its name, and then began to describe the few species of butterflies living there. This man knew our surroundings as much as humanly possible, only we had seen nothing yet. He was about to show us just how much he loved this garden.

To be continued…

Please join me next Monday, August 14 to read what happened next and what this park ranger/gardener taught me about life. 

 

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